If security is going to be one of the leading issues in 2014 thanks to revelations about the capabilities of electronic spy agencies, its constant companion — privacy — will also be along side.

Evan Schuman, editor of a corporate content creation company, has written a piece on what enterprises should be thinking about in developing privacy policies for the increasingly number of demanding customers.

Businesses need to change the way they view privacy so they can make proper decisions about how far to let partners they deal with who take a casual approach to privacy go, he writes. “Making these decisions on a case-by-case basis, which is how most IT executives handle privacy decisions today, won’t work any longer,” he advises. “These decisions must be made and approved at the CEO and board level and then mandated through every department.”

So, he says, policies that encourage staff to increasingly use mobile devices have to have a security element. Different employees and customers have different interpretations of privacy that have to be taken into account. Finally, he advises that the corporate privacy policy be concise in clearly understood English and published in a place where it can easily be found.

“Privacy policies are going to have to seen as core strategic documents in 2014,” Schuman writes. Anything less and you’re going to find a lot more resistance than you’ve been used to. But there’s also a positive reason to do a rethink: You stand to gain on rivals that pass up this chance for such strategic thinking.”

Currently a freelance writer, I'm the former editor of ITWorldCanada.com and Computing Canada. An IT journalist since 1997, I've written for several of ITWC's sister publications including ITBusiness.ca and Computer Dealer News. Before that I was a staff reporter at the Calgary Herald and the Brampton (Ont.) Daily Times.